Many years ago, a friend of mine told me of some odd advice given him by his high school counselor. This friend was brilliant and was headed to the Air Force Academy. He was successful in everything he had done up to that point. But his counselor advised him to purposely choose to do something that he would likely fail so that he would experience failure first hand. He joined the track team and chose an event for which he had no natural ability. He struggled and struggled but pushed on. He wasn’t a total failure but he certainly was far from the top of the field of athletes. The experience impacted him and gave him a different perspective. I have lost contact with him over the years but I have not forgotten his counselors advice.
As I look back over my life, I see myself almost always choosing paths that fit my natural abilities. The goals I have sought are ones that with some hard work, I could actually accomplish. I’m not saying that everything fell in my lap and was easy. But what I am saying is that I have stayed within the boundaries of my own human strength and ability. It’s not often that I have stepped out and truly risked failure.But risking failure is what I have done with dirt bike riding.
In 2009, I broke my leg while riding with my husband Tim, on the back of his dirt bike. I was wearing a helmet but I was not prepared for his heavy motorcycle to fall on my leg when we lost control in mud. If I had been wearing proper foot gear, I’m sure I would not have been injured. It still qualifies as the most extreme pain I have ever experienced even when compared to childbirth. The worst of it was the fact that we were out in the middle of nowhere and I had to get back on the motorcycle to ride out. I ultimately needed surgery for the fracture and had a titanium rod and plates put in my left leg. It took about 6 months but my leg is really back to normal. I rarely ever notice problems with it now
For a couple of years, I really was afraid to get back on a dirt bike and no one really blamed me. But then it struck me. Why am I afraid of this? Tim could teach me how to ride and after a little convincing, he did. We have ridden on numerous trails in Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. My skills are improving but does this activity come naturally to me? Certainly not! I struggle every time we go. My mind is constantly assessing the obstacles in front of me. Do I need to downshift and give it more power to get up this hill? Should I go around a muddy area or through it? Can I make it through this creek or is it too deep? Tim says eventually I won’t have to think anymore. It will just come to me what to do. This hasn’t happened yet. The trail rides are a challenge for me and I fail in some way every time we go. But aside from a few bruises on my body and my pride, it is good for me. I am stretching myself beyond my abilities. As long as Tim continues to have patience with me, I will continue through the failures.
Stretching beyond our normal abilities is really what God asks of us. He has always done this throughout history. Virtually no one when a God-given task was presented to them said, “Sure, I can do that.” Even Moses argued with God to send someone else to Pharaoh. To go and do what God asks us, we must risk failure. Our human abilities will fail us. We must trust that God has a bigger plan. It’s when our possibilities end, that God-possibilities begin. Faithfully moving forward even when we can’t see any way we will succeed, is when God’s power is revealed. Later in Moses’s life when he sent 12 spies into the land of Canaan, ten of the spies returned afraid and reluctant to proceed into the land because of giants they found there. Only Joshua and Caleb looked beyond their human abilities and trusted in God for their success. Because the ten spies convinced the Israelites that the land could not be taken, they did not cross over the Jordan River but wandered in the desert as nomads. Forty years later, Joshua and Caleb were the only 2 of their generation to actually enter the Promised Land. They had faith that God would take care of the giants and he did.
So what are the giants that frighten you? We all have them. I challenge you to stretch yourself beyond your normal abilities in the small choices. Trust God to get you though, just like Joshua and Caleb. When a big task comes along, that will take a miracle to accomplish, then you will have confidence to move forward in faith even if it means risking failure. God will go with you to the Promised Land. Count on it.
